BYU transfer tracker: Who's coming, going during Cougars' portal season?

SALT LAKE CITY — Transfer portal season is in full swing in Utah, and BYU is no exception.

With conference championships set and before the 12-team College Football Playoff is revealed in a week, teams began looking over their rosters for next year and players who felt the need to move on began finalizing those decisions.

Complicating the offseason, which started Monday for non-bowl eligible teams and offers a glimpse for others beginning Wednesday with the early signing period, is the pending $2.8 billion settlement of the House v. NCAA lawsuit that would reduce roster sizes by at least 4,739 total scholarships across NCAA Division I.

In football, that will mean a 105-player roster limit, down from as many as 125 players in previous years. It's certainly caused its fair share of consternation across the country, with players also being eligible for around $20 million in revenue sharing through the settlement.

"I think a lot of coaches have voiced their opinions, and not a lot are happy about it," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "It's a struggle when you have to cut your family down and you have to trim the roster. It creates a lot of issues.

"For us, we're going to have to do it," he added. "I think it's going to be difficult for a lot of teams, and not just us. It's pushing guys out who have done so much for our program."

Players are not bound to leave by entering the portal, but programs are not required to reserve their scholarship, either.

Here's a running list of players from BYU who have announced their portal decisions. The list will be updated.

Who's in the transfer portal from BYU?

Sione Moa

• Position: Linebacker
• Hometown: North Ogden, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 23, 2024

The former Utah State transfer from Weber High joined his brother Aisea in the portal with one season of eligibility remaining after collecting 10 tackles in seven games as a redshirt junior.

David Latu

• Position: Defensive tackle
• Hometown: Bountiful, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 19, 2024

A former NJCAA second-team All-American at Snow College, Latu played in 14 games in two seasons with BYU, totaling six tackles in 2023 before appearing in just two games as a junior in 2024.

Noah Lugo

• Position: Quarterback
• Hometown: Haslet, Texas
• Decision: Dec. 19, 2024

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback joined BYU after a prep career at Easton High that totaled 4,756 yards and 53 touchdowns before redshirting his first season in Provo in 2024. Lugo was also recruited by Baylor, Duke, UTSA, Arkansas State, Indiana, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston State and Tulsa, among others, in high school.

Prince Zombo

• Position: Wide receiver
• Hometown: Philadelphia, Penn.
• Decision: Dec. 19, 2024

The son of Liberian immigrants to the United States who earned All-Arizona 6A honors at Liberty High School redshirted the 2024 season after signing with BYU over interest from Arizona State and Colorado State. He also ran track at Liberty, clocking a 11.10 second 100-meter dash as a junior.

Dallin Johnson

• Position: Defensive tackle
• Hometown: Springville, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 18, 2024

The former three-star recruit out of Springville High entered the portal with four seasons remaining after redshirting the 2024 campaign. Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 295-pound lineman, was a three-star recruit and former U.S. Army All-American who totaled 35 sacks, 53.5 tackles for loss and 257 tackles in high school.

Aisea Moa

• Position: Linebacker
• Hometown: North Ogden, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 16, 2024

The 6-foot-2, 235-pound pass rusher whose brother Sione is a linebacker on the current roster spent three years at BYU, totaling 17 tackles and sharing a tackle for loss with one forced fumble in 17 games, including one start.

Tyler West

• Position: Wide receiver
• Hometown: Washington, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 10, 2024

The former Crimson Cliffs standout who totaled 1,315 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior for the Mustangs did not play as a freshman in 2024.

Dallin Havea

• Position: Defensive tackle
• Hometown: Orem, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 9, 2024

A former two-way standout at Provo High, the 6-foot-2, 275-pound Havea played in one game in 2024 after returning from a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in McAllen, Texas, to the same school where his father Glen and grandfather Possi Havea both played rugby.

Dane Christensen

• Position: Quarterback
• Hometown: Queen Creek, Ariz.
• Decision: Dec. 9, 2024

A former three-star quarterback from Casteel High in Queen Creek, Arizona, Christensen joined the program in March after serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa. His entry was first reported by On3, and he's no longer on the BYU roster.

Crew Wakley

• Position: Safety
• Hometown: Sandy, Utah
• Decision: Dec. 9, 2024

From walk-on to rising star, the former Jordan High quarterback rose to become the second-leading tackler on the team in 2023 with 53 stops, tied with fellow Utah State transfer Jakob Robinson. After playing in just four games for the Aggies in 2021, Wakley spent a year away from football before walking on at BYU and starting in seven of 12 games a year ago and nine of 11 as a redshirt junior in 2024 when he amassed 44 tackles, a sack and two interceptions, before submitting his name to the transfer portal.

Dalton Riggs

• Position: Long snapper
• Hometown: Eagle, Idaho
• Decision: Dec. 5, 2024

Riggs spent three seasons at BYU after serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga and Salt Lake City, playing in 12 of his 15 career games in 2024 after his brother Austin transferred to Rutgers. The 6-foot-3 deep snapper was rated the No. 43 deep snapper in the nation and a four-and-a-half star recruit by Rubio Long Snapping after winning an Idaho state tennis title in 2019.

Miles Davis

• Position: Running back
• Hometown: Las Vegas
• Decision: Dec. 3, 2024
• Committed to: Utah State

First reported by On3, Davis entered the transfer portal a year after he opted to test the waters but returned to BYU. The 6-foot-1 speedster from Las Vegas broke out for a career-high 131 yards on 13 carries in the Cougars' 38-24 win over Wyoming back on Sept. 24, 2022, but finished his five-year career in Provo with just 468 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 27 games (including 18 carries for 76 yards in eight games, with one start, in 2024).

Micah Harper

• Position: Safety
• Hometown: Chandler, Ariz.
• Decision: Dec. 3, 2024

The fifth-year junior officially entered the transfer portal Tuesday, opting to move on from BYU after receiving his business degree and a year of graduate school in the Marriott School of Business. Harper, who was recruited by Nevada, San Diego State, Syracuse and Tulane out of Arizona's Basha High spent all or most of two seasons injured, as well as posting a career-high 62 tackles with two forced fumbles in 2022 for the Cougars.

Kody Epps

• Position: Wide receiver
• Hometown: Santa Ana, Calif.
• Decision: Dec. 2, 2024
• Committed to: Western Kentucky

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound receiver spent five seasons at BYU, but exits with one year of eligibility after finishing his degree and catching just eight passes for 54 yards and a touchdown during the Cougars' 10-2 campaign of 2024. Epps caught 73 passes for 819 yards and seven touchdowns during his BYU career, including a career-best 459 yards with six touchdowns in 2022.

Jackson Bowers

• Position: Tight end
• Hometown: Mesa, Ariz.
• Decision: Dec. 2, 2024
• Committed to: Oregon State (Dec. 19)

A former four-star prospect out of Mountain View High School in Arizona, the 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end was the No. 22-rated tight end prospect in the country by 247Sportws coming out of high school. He had scholarship offers from Alabama, Arizona, Washington, Baylor, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas and Utah. But Bowers played in just five total games in two years with the Cougars that included a redshirt, including just two games in 2024 before opting for the portal.

Who's coming to BYU from the transfer portal?

Carsen Ryan

• Position: Tight end
• Class: Senior
• Hometown: Orem, Utah
• Committed: Dec. 16, 2024

The former four-star recruit out of American Fork and Timpview High School played two seasons at UCLA before transferring to Utah for the 2024 season, where Ryan made 10 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown in 12 games (five starts). The 6-foot-4, 252-pound set a career-high with four catches for 78 yards in the Utes' loss to Colorado, and added two more receptions in the season finale against UCF for more than half his season grabs.

Kyle Sfarcioc

• Position: OL
• Class: RS-Senior
• Hometown: Peoria, Ariz.
• Committed: Dec. 19, 2024

The 6-foot-4, 295-pound upper classmen played in 25 games in four seasons at Southern Utah after winning an Arizona state championship with Liberty High School in 2019 and earning all-state, all-district and all-region honors in 2021.

Anisi Purcell

• Position: DE
• Class: RS-Junior
• Hometown: West Bountiful, Utah
• Committed: Dec. 22, 2024

The 6-foot-3, 266-pound defensive end who prepped at Bountiful High totaled 39 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in three seasons at Southern Utah before entering the transfer portal Dec. 9 with two years of eligibility remaining.

Tausili Akana

• Position: EDGE
• Class: RS-So.
• Hometown: Laie, Hawai'i
• Committed: Dec. 23, 2024

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound edge rusher from Laie, Hawaii, prepped at Skyridge High in Lehi and returns to the Beehive State after played in nine games the past two years for the Longhorns. A 2023 All-American Bowl selection, Akana was a consensus top-150 recruit nationally, and the No. 1 and No. 2-rated recruit in Utah by most services.

Andrew Gentry

• Position: OT
• Class: Jr.
• Hometown: Littleton, Colo.
• Committed: Dec. 24, 2024

A former four-star recruit, Gentry signed with the Cougars on Christmas Eve, according to On3Sports. The No. 63 overall recruit by On3 in 2020 before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Orem started two games on the offensive line as a junior for the Wolverines before a season-ending injury.

The 6-foot-7, 327-pound tackle also appeared 26 games on the offensive line and special teams for the Wolverines, including all 15 of the 2023 national championship-winning season.

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